The Curious Incident of the Boycott that Wasn’t

Writers Note: This article appeared in The Global Times on 4th Februrary 2022 as “US Officials Come or Not Come to Beijing Olympics: Chinese People Don’t Care” https://enapp.globaltimes.cn/article/1251357

The athletes are in place, all the articles and short videos we see on social media seem to indicate they are happy, comfortable, being well looked after and enjoying China’s newest technology with great beds, robotically prepared meals and amazing facilities in a healthy environment separated from the anxieties of Covid-19. The games will begin soon with curling starting before the official opening ceremony but they start with some controversy.

There have been boycotts of the Olympics before, six of them in total. Related to apartheid, cold war, human rights or politics but the one most remembered was led, as it is this time, by the United States and they elected not to send anyone at all; no athletes and no officials attended the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. The irony of that decision was their reason. The “Russian invasion of Afghanistan” something they themselves did 20 years later and remained in the country for the following 20 years. That being said, whether the rest of the world agreed or not, the USSR military were in Afghanistan, a country many felt they didn’t belong and, despite many disagreeing, there was actually some justification behind the boycott and 66 countries joined the USA in protest. Four years later, citing security concerns, the USSR led a boycott of the Los Angeles Games.

The strangest aspect of this 2022 Winter Olympic boycott seems to be that the reasoning this time is based on unproven allegations and a complete disregard of all the evidence to the contrary, as well as a lack of desire to establish the veracity of any, or all of the claims being made. Given the seriousness of the accusations, a visit by the Ambassador or one of his staff to the areas of concern, primarily Xinjiang, would have set everyone’s mind at ease and the games could have proceeded without the politics, without the embarrassment and without the angst associated with a deterioration in relations.

Even more embarrassing is the fact that after announcing the boycott the US applied for and have been granted 46 visas so they could send “officials”, most of whom apparently work for the Department of State — meaning they are for all intents and purposes, diplomats[1]. The US asked others to boycott but the response was, at best lukewarm. Canada, Australia and the UK, of course, all Five Eye intelligence cooperation nations agreed, New Zealand are reported to have agreed but actually sent a letter to the Chinese organisers as early as October, two months before the boycott was announced, stating they would not be sending officials due to Covid-19 concerns[2]. Of the 91 countries taking part, a total of 15 countries including New Zealand, will not be sending diplomats or government officials to Beijing’s historic games[3]. The USA is not included in the boycott they arranged, as they have sent officials anyway.

Beijing is quite unique; the geography gives it a very warm summer and a very cold winter. As a result, it’s the only city in the world to host both a Summer and a Winter Olympic Games. In 2008, a huge 588-person team from the United States attended and George W Bush personally came to China. By all accounts he enjoyed his time, he cycled on the track with athletes and played volleyball on the beach court. There were no calls for boycotts, no allegations of human rights abuses and no indications that there was anything other than a strong, robust and growing relationship between the world’s leading superpower and the upcoming but still lagging industrial powerhouse of China.

What brought the change about has been a steady decline in the way the United States manages its international affairs. Shortly after George W Bush came to China in 2008, Barack Obama was elected and decided to ease his country’s Middle East Policies and “pivot to Asia”. Considered by many to be an abject failure[4], it created tensions, military escalations and these brought about a decline in relations between the obviously growing China and the seemingly declining United States. Opportunistically, Trump saw, in China, a wonderful opening, a chance to deflect the blame for many of America’s problems. Biden is now between a rock and a hard place. If he’s seen to be conciliatory towards China, he knows can’t get his party supported in the upcoming mid-terms.

The one place where this is important is Inside of China. Chinese people of China don’t feel pressured by the USA, they can come or not come! Most seem bemused by the fact they want to boycott AND send 46 officials. USA talks of global support but only 15 countries support them when 91 countries attend — none of that is important to the people of China. When it comes to the topic of the USA, they simply don’t care; in preparation for this article, I asked several Chinese friends and family members what they thought. Overwhelmingly they are looking forward to seeing the opening ceremony. Underwhelmingly, when asked about the USA’s stance the response was the same: If the USA wants to come, China will welcome them, if they don’t want to come, why should we care?

[1] https://www.yahoo.com/now/china-issue-visas-us-olympic-093000115.html

[2] https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/new-zealand-wont-send-diplomats-beijing-olympics-cites-covid-19-2021-12-07/

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic_Games_boycotts

[4] https://thediplomat.com/2017/01/the-pivot-to-asia-was-obamas-biggest-mistake/